LOS ANGELES — Hundreds of battle-weary firefighters made the transition to mop-up mode yesterday
as the 28,000-acre Springs fire in Ventura County was declared 75 percent contained, with full
containment expected today.

Several engine companies were sent home yesterday as crews worked to establish a fire break more
than a mile long in the Hidden Valley area to complete containment of the blaze, which burned from
Thousand Oaks to the Pacific Ocean.

“We’re going to have this thing out by tomorrow,” Ventura County Fire Capt. Scott Dettore said
yesterday. “Probably by Monday evening.”

Investigators said the cause appears to be accidental. Fire officials said the fire started
possibly when a piece of metal fell into the tinder-dry bush early Thursday, sparking a blaze.The
fire started at the edge of the southbound lanes of Rt. 101 near Thousand Oaks, about a
quarter-mile north of the truck scales on the Conejo Grade, the California Department of Forestry
and Fire Protection said.

“The area is considered a collection point for fuels and ignition sources. Due to the
topography, the fire quickly spread, fanned by strong east winds,” the fire agency said in a
statement.

At its peak, the blaze threatened about 4,000 homes, authorities said. Fifteen houses were
damaged but none was destroyed. Six firefighters and one civilian suffered minor injuries.

Firefighters got a reprieve Saturday with a dramatic change in the weather that brought
significantly lower temperatures and high humidity. The humidity was so high Saturday that
firefighters had trouble setting backfires.

All mandatory evacuations were lifted, and by yesterday morning the area was blanketed by some
drizzle.

At the peak of the fire, more than 1,800 fire personnel battled the blaze. Firefighters and
ground crews were deployed from across California and other states, including Oregon, Arizona,
Idaho and New Mexico, because officials worried about the possibility of multiple fires in the
region.

Several wildfires continued to burn around California. A day-old fire in steep forestland in the
San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County has burned 650 acres and yesterday was declared 75
percent contained.

The blaze, named the Gorgonio fire, is south of Banning, a town of 30,000 in the mountain pass
between Riverside and Palm Springs. The fire has not threatened homes and no evacuations were
ordered, according to Cal Fire.